Hey everyone! I just love Halloween but I'm so glad its over! It snowed Sat night which left us with several inches of snow on the ground last night for trick or treating. Crazy, crazy! Lucas went as Harry Potter, Sydney was Hedwig (his owl) and Caiden was a dalmation puppy. They were adorable! Pics are still in my camera of course but I'll post once I download.
Ok, so on with the trip report.
August 8, 2010
This was it, our first day at Magic Kingdom. I set the alarm for bright and early in the morning. We’ve been to WDW several times and I knew that rope drop was essential. I knew that we had the special GAC but figured we’d still get more done if we arrived earlier. It would also be easier to take a mid day break to go to one of the pools. The large pool was just outside our building but Lucas was desperate to get to the themed pool with the slide that he saw when our luggage was being brought to our room. You know what they say about best laid plans though right? I don’t know what happened. By the time the kids got dressed and ate, it was already after 9am. On the way to the monorail, I stopped at the concierge desk to ask about tickets. We were given 3 day hoppers at GKTW but because we planned to extend the trip by 4 days, we knew we’d need more tickets. I was really hoping for some pixie dust but as expected, we did need to pay full rate for the extra days. Since the first 3 days is the most expensive, with the remaining days only $20 or so each, we decided to get a 6d non hopper ticket for each of us so that we could use them for the four extra days plus other days if we wanted to. We ended up using 5 days of our own passes, 3d hoppers given by GKTW, 2 days Universal given by GKTW and 1 day Seaworld given by GKTW (used 1d US and Seaworld in same day). Bottom line for the extra tickets for 2 adults and 2 kids (Caiden is only 2 so didn’t need a ticket) was a little over $900. You’d think there would be a way to extend the complimentary tickets since by extending the trip, wish families are also paying Disney for hotel and food for those extra days ... maybe I’ll write them just to see if they’ll consider it for future families ...
Anyway, being at Grand Floridian, we were only minutes from MK yet we still didn’t arrive til 9:45am! The plan was to arrive early enough to see the characters at the front since we’ve never taken time to do that before and then head to Fantasyland but since we were late, we decided to head directly there. But we needed to stop for a photopass pic first!
As we were walking up Main Street, we started to notice the clouds... very dark, ominous clouds. Hmmm, we’ve never had to deal with rain before... or at least nothing more than a 10 min shower. The first stop Sydney wanted to make was the caroussel so I put the rain cover on the stroller just in case. Just the look on her face and that of the boys was the most amazing thing I’ve seen. This was the beginning.
She was so adorable in her Minnie Mouse outfit from the big give with those big adorable bows. She’s getting older and I knew for sure that this was likely our last trip with our little girl in piggytales... I have to press her a little now to not just have a single ponytail... guess I want to keep her little for as long as I can... that was part of the reason for her trip being this summer... we didn’t want to wait ... we wanted her to enjoy the magic of Disney and princesses while she was still young enough to be completely amazed by all of it... I knew it was time when she asked for Barbie sneakers instead of Princess ones earlier this year. Ok... I’ve gotten sidetracked ... seemed to happen a lot this trip. As I was saying, our first stop was the carrousel. It had only just started to move when it seemed like the sky opened up. It POURED ... and I mean POURED. This wasn’t a simple 10min rain storm. Rain was popping a foot high off the ground. All Lucas kept saying was “We’re some lucky we chose the carrousel aren’t we?” LOL. I was thinking we should have been in Philharmagic but I guess it was better than Dumbo. LOL. The ride stopped and Sydney and Caiden asked to ride again. John didn’t think we could be there was absolutely no one in line so I asked. I didn’t even need to show the GAC and everyone on the ride was allowed to reride again if they wanted. By the time that was over, it was still pouring. The ponchos were in the back pocket of the stroller (not a brilliant move on my part). All I kept thinking was the rain would ruin Sydney’s hair and we haven’t met Minnie yet. I really do worry about the strangest things. We ran to an overhang at a little kiosk between Snow White and Winnie the Pooh and hung out for a bit. Once the rain slowed down slightly, we decided to make a move. Winnie the Pooh was closest so off we ran. I showed the GAC and they ushered us through the fastpass lane. We hopped right on. Caiden was absolutely in awe of WTP.
When time was up, he wanted to do it again. We didn’t need to ask though. The person running the ride told us it was still raining and asked if we wanted to ride again. Of course, we said yes.
. Caiden would have done it a third time but we figured it was time to leave.
It was still raining but not as hard. Snow White wasn’t in the plan for today but with the rain, we didn’t want to go far. We rode it once but that was it for the kids. They really didn’t enjoy it. Sydney wanted her eyes closed for most of it (I learned in later rides that apparently that only works if my hand is on her eyes... shutting them herself isn’t the same LOL). By the time we finished Snow White, the rain was manageable. I went to the stroller and grabbed it as well as the ponchos (from that time forward, I kept an extra set in our backpack!). Next stop, Toontown!
Our first goal was to go to the Judge’s Tent to see Mickey and Minnie. The kids loves Mickey’s house and the CM brought us directly in. M & M were amazing with the kids. And Mickey gave me a huge hug himself. The ‘wish’ aspect of our trip had started. M & M were willing to stay with the kids and take pictures with them as long as they wanted. It was our first time butting in line as such and I tried to speed them up a bit. The kids were having so much fun. It was only later that John mentioned he noticed others in line. I tried to avoid eye contact with them because I felt bad. He said it was then that everything dawned on him because not only did they not mind, they were smiling and ooing and awing along with the kids. The photographer even asked Sydney to go back and take a proper pic with Minnie holding her skirt out!
It was only later that I realized we forgot to get the autograph books signed. When we left, Sydney wanted to see Minnie’s House. It wasn’t really in the plan for that day but I decided that this trip wasn’t really going to need much of a plan... it really was whatever the kids wanted. So off to Minnie’s House we went. We then headed to Barnstormer. Caiden was finally tall enough this year and he really is our little daredevil. I’ve actually never done Barnstormer because, well, I actually don’t like roller coasters... or any fast ride... very much and preferred to stay with the little ones. This time, the full family could ride. The verdict? I HATE all roller coasters. I had no idea what I was going to do for the rest of the trip because with Caiden possibly reaching the 40in requirement, I wanted to go with the whole family on all the rides we could but it was terrible. But it turns out, while Caiden loved it, Sydney didn’t like Barnstormer this year. I tried to tell her how much fun it was (and lied the whole time
) but she was having nothing of it. And I wasn’t going to force her into the rides so that changed plans a bit for the rest of the trip.
By now, it was close to lunchtime so we headed to Colombia Harbour House, one of our fav places to eat at MK. When we walked in, the gentleman asked if we’d been here before. We told him it had been awhile and he proceeded to SING to Sydney. It was wonderful! So much fun. It was our first time ordering for Sydney since we learned of her peanut allergy but as we learned this trip, WDW really is wonderful and the fact that she is allergic to just peanuts, meant that ordering for her was really no different than ordering for anyone else... bottom line, avoid the baked goods and treats. Other than that, she was fine with most things on all the menus. We took our food upstairs and ate near the window (at one of the smallest tables there because that’s where the kids wanted to sit
).
After lunch, we headed to Haunted Mansion. I was getting used to using the GAC at this point and felt much more comfortable. The lady brought us around for the wheelchair entrance because the line was growing out front. This was the only time for this ride though. Sydney wasn’t a huge fan. We walked next to Splash Mtn but the ride was down so we headed to Adventureland. We did Aladdin (we learned that this ride was hit or miss for GAC depending on who was manning the entrance to the ride... sometimes they let us use it and enter by the wheelchair entrance and sometimes they didn’t). Then we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean. We met pirate Goofy along the way and had a few pics and got our first autograph! We then decided to try Splash again. We all headed to the FP entrance and I crossed my fingers as the gentleman said Caiden had to be measured. Turns out, he wasn’t even close. You should have seen the look of shock on his face when he was told he couldn’t ride. He was so disappointed. The rest of the group went on and I took Caiden into the Splash store to find something to make up for it. He chose a soft and snuggly Eeyore and was now not near as sad. We headed to the bridge to watch the flume and wait for John and the kids. And there they were! ... Or there John was.... turns out, Sydney and Lucas decided to duck so they wouldn’t get wet. I tried to buy the picture of the ride but there really was no point because they ducked right before the drop and the only person in the pic was John LOL. Sydney loved it and she says it was her favourite ride but she never wanted to ride again. Apparently she knocked her nose trying to duck and didn’t want to hurt her nose again.
It was later than planned but time to head back to the hotel for a dip in the pool. On our way out, there was Jasmine and Aladdin! They were awesome! And it was the first of many hugs and kisses for Caiden who apparently has quite a thing for princesses, Jasmine in particular!
On our way out, we decided to check out the wish lounge on our way out. I have to say, it was amazing! The kids loved that they could have a drink from the fridge and play with the big fluffy pillows. Lucas really wanted to play checkers but this was just a drop in to check it out. I promised we’d stay longer another day. (Forgot to upload a pic onto photobucket so I'll add one later. Even if its for just a few mintutes, all wish kids should drop in here. Its wonderful!) Off we headed to the pool.
It was going to be a shorter break because of the late start this morning so we all headed to the bigger but non themed pool for a break. The kids had a blast anyway. And there were bartenders walking around with virgin strawberry daquiris to try for everyone in the pool! After an hour in the pool, we got ready and headed back to MK. We had more pics taken on Main Street and decided to eat first and then do rides. We grabbed a quick dinner at Pecos Bills. We kept vering off schedule and I have no idea what we did for the hours here. I think we headed to Dumbo. That too was hard to manoevre with the GAC the first time. It took forever for us to get someone's attention and find the wheelchair entrance. It was so much easier with those rides that had FP!
Around 8pm, I sent John and Lucas off to do Big Thunder while Caiden, Sydney and I held a spot for the evening parade. I tried to get Sydney to go too but she was adamant that she wasn’t doing any more rides like that. The boys returned about 15min before the parade. It was our first time seeing this parade and while it was nice, I much prefer Spectromagic. We had planned to stay for the fireworks too but the kids were getting tired so we decided to see them at the end of Main Street so we could make a quick exit to the monorail. I guess we were late getting there because there weren’t many places. Lucas was tired. The younger kids were cranky. We should have just gone back to the hotel but I figured it was this late now, we may as well stay and then we won’t feel the need to see them again until Wishes returned later in the trip. Overall, they were ok. But it wasn’t Wishes. Wishes was special and I missed them. And when I looked into the stroller and Sydney and Caiden were both asleep, having missed the fireworks all together I realized that we really shouldn’t have stayed. They should have been home in bed. This wasn’t for them, it was for me. Maybe we’d try later this trip if they were up for it but I’d play it by ear.... turns out we never saw any more fireworks from the parks. It had been planned loosely on two days to see Wishes and I desperately wanted to see them, especially on this trip, but the kids enjoyed seeing the fireworks more from our hotel room even though we couldn’t hear the music. So that’s what we did ... and in retrospect, I’m glad we did. We’ll never have a MK view room at the Grand Floridian again. I know that. The memories of the kids waiting for the water electric parade and then the fireworks on the balcony in their jammies is something we’ll all remember. It’s where the magic was this trip.
Next day, Epcot!
I'm still here. Lurking on the wish board for the most part while I wait for the photopass CD to arrive. Its seriously been crazy here this month. Both boys had birthdays and birthday parties. Lucas and Sydney started school. Lucas started hockey again with sort outs and first scrimmages. And my folks visited for two weeks. Things are finally under control and the big stuff is over but I still don't have the photopass CD yet. Ordered it on Sept 10th so I'm starting to get a bit concerned but figure I'll wait another week before I contact anyone. Most of what I've ordered from the US for the boys bdays took a really long time to get here so I figure its a border delay more than anything else. I have the next few days of the TR done with notes for the other days so I don't forget things but really want the wonderful pics from the photopass CD to go along with it. I promise not to disappear though 
